The Day After: What’s helpful after the storm

The day after Emmeline was born, my mother-in-law came over and spent the entire day in our kitchen, making a lasagna, a bowl of chili, three kinds of ready-to-heat pastas and then she cleaned up the whole diabolical cooking mess. By the time my wife and I arrived home from the hospital with our new baby, our refrigerator and freezer were stocked with so much food that we didn’t have to cook for weeks.

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I was thinking about this the other day when I listened to a friend offer another friend help this summer when a new baby arrives. “I’ve got the entire summer off,” said the helpful friend, “So I could help any time you need. And the best part? I have to pass Baby’s R’ Us on the way in, so if you need anything … I’m there.”

Before I had a child, I used to think it was pretty neat — god-awful charitable really — to stop by the day after a baby was born, maybe bring a cute jumper getup or toy, hold the baby for a few minutes and leave.

Now I know better, of course. Not having to cook or not having to run errands, that’s almost like gold when you’re trying to wedge in as much sleep as possible or perform otherwise simple tasks, such as

personal hygiene.

Friends and relatives can do some outrageously simple, cool and

helpful things in the days following the arrival of a new baby. So in our honor of Peter’s coming attraction, let us know the best thing